THE MARCH OF TIME that nobody forgets they’re out there.

Scions have an easier

time of it, but they run into the same problem. Anytime a
The globalization of The World that began in the 19th
confrontation with titanspawn or a grand plan gone awry
century with industrialization and barreled forward at an
gets too explosive, a dozen iPhone cameras stream the scene
increasingly rapid pace with the rise of modern technology
across the globe in real time and Fate works its will. Some
had a profound impact on the Gods and how they interacted
Scions don’t care, choosing fame and impossible stardom
with humanity. In the distant past, a God could reasonably
over agency in their own stories, but most try to keep a
expect to send an Incarnation to meddle in the affairs of
slightly lower profile when it comes to leaping buildings and
mortals and only encounter mild Fatebinding as a result,
calling down lightning.
since the story would spread at word of mouth’s pace. By the
time it reached the point of saturation to become a Legend, While the blinding speed of human progress strongly
Fate’s effects had already taken hold and diffused enough impacted the Gods, the same was not particularly true in
not to unduly rock the boat. reverse. Worship and blessings certainly provide inspiration
and reduce obstacles, but ultimately humanity is miraculous
Once humans developed various means of instant
on its own merits when it comes to the spirit of innovation
communication and, especially, the unstoppable force of
and the will to break boundaries. Mortals, not Scions, were
mass media, all bets were off. If Hera personally transformed
responsible for most major advances in science and tech-
some mortal into a bird for insulting her now, tabloids and
nology — largely because Scions have fewer limitations that
Facebook would ensure that thousands of people would be
need conquering, and their burgeoning destinies keep them
Fatebound to her within the day. Openly dropping miracles
plenty busy. This is why the modern World looks more or
on the populace to drum up worship garners such an over-
less identical to ours from a broad perspective, rather than
whelmingly large response from so many people that a deity’s
some hyper-advanced super society that runs on marvels.
self-image is pulled in a million directions, stretched to the
Many Gods, and to some extent their children, still think in
breaking point by a million different interpretations of what
patterns established long ago, when humanity had nowhere
he’s done. The Gods thus have a strong incentive to take a
else to turn for answers and relied on the goodwill of their
backseat and stay behind the curtain. It makes The World a
pantheons to survive harsh climates and rampant plagues.
more jaded place than it used to be, but the pantheons still
While mortals still ask the Gods for blessings in everything
dip their toes in the water often enough and deeply enough
from agriculture to war to love, modern humanity has taken

THE WORLD 25
charge of its own destiny in ways the Gods never could have
imagined a few hundred years ago, and it colors every inter-
action with the divine.
ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE
No secret conspiracy schemes to shield fragile mortal
minds from the divine and fantastical. Gods are as frank
about their relationship to humanity as they ever were,
answering prayers in exchange for worship and pitching ex-
istential fits when they don’t get their way. Everybody knows
the Gods are there, even if they refuse to engage with divini-
ty or believe it’s all just a shared hallucination. People in The
World today tell stories of an everchanging array of local
Heroes in recent history as often as they tell ancient tales
of younger times, although they usually haven’t met them in
person. The pantheons all have their own reasons for living
in the Overworld — some were banished, while others just
like paradise better than wading in among the hairy little
mortals — but they all know the cost of imposing themselves
upon The World too often or too boldly. Zeus learned his
lesson when Hera tricked him into incinerating his mortal
lover Semele with his full glory revealed. The Tuatha Dé
Danann once lived in Ireland proper, and what did it get
them? War, invasion, exile, and Fatebinding so powerful
it turned their own geasa back upon them, ensuring they
would always be just as compelled by taboos and oaths as
their enemies. The more the Gods stand directly in front of
the camera, the larger and brighter the spotlight that Titans
use to choose their targets, and the more collateral damage
piles up as their battles rage. They’re not afraid to make their
power known and aren’t out to hide their miracles from The
World — it’s just bloody inconvenient to put them center
stage.
Instead, The World is the game board for all the pan-
theons’ grand agendas and petty grudges, a playground
where their many plots and noble ideals trip over each
other and demand each others’ lunch money. Despite their
cosmic power, Gods are ultimately nothing without humans
to define and validate them. Everything they do, they do
for the sake of The World in some way, even if it’s also for
themselves. They have a vested interest in what happens
on this spinning blue planet, and too much divine force
unleashed on it would tear it to pieces. In the other direc-
tion, the fallout from the Fatebound masses would warp the
pantheons beyond recognition. Scions, then, are the perfect
expression of their Worldly desires tempered by their need
to act at a remove. They carry just enough of their parents’
themes and powers to push things in directions the Gods
want them to go, and belong just enough to humanity to act
as a workaround to cloying Fate — at least, until they grow
potent enough to leave seismic footprints of their own.
MODERN MYTHOLOGY
The heartbeat of divine influence in The World is subtle
but strong. A continuous line between ancient and modern
mythologies means that though the Gods stay out of direct
contact with humanity most of the time, they’re the murmur
26 CHAPTER ONE: THE WORLD
in the background of everyday life, occasionally rising above
the noise to sing out an important lyric before fading back
into radio static. It means the water-cooler conversation
is about Coyote’s latest shenanigans as often as it is about
which actor is dating whom. It means people attribute urban
legends to particular pantheons or creatures, and conspiracy
theorists are out to debunk them rather than prove them.
Magic and miracles are a fact of life. They’re wondrous,
breathtaking, terrifying, awe-inspiring — but they’re not
unbelievable.
Like anything else, the exploits of the Gods and ev-
eryone associated with them makes for excellent media
fodder. The ancient tradition of sitting around telling each
other stories about the time Gayan knocked Krishna over
with his chariot still goes on today, except now instead of
a dozen people gathered around a fire, the audience is the
entire World. Television, films, comic books, novels, and
sensationalist news sources all regularly portray Scions
and Gods performing great deeds just as they do in our
world. In The World, though, the subjects are more var-
ied. Prime-time dramas about minor third-string deities
from every culture air with relative frequency, and super-
hero tales veer into religious territory as Scions and Godly
Incarnations take up a larger chunk of public imagination
when it comes to what makes a power fantasy. Children
occasionally choose real-World Scions they’ve read about
or even seen in person to emulate when they play. The
Gods endure a small but steady stream of prayers and
sacrifices from people desperate to be chosen for the gift
of divinity, and a few more dedicated myth-hunters prowl
the edges of rumor in hopes of coming face to face with a
transformative experience.
Fate and the interconnected nature of the pantheons
ensure that the Gods’ relationships to each other and their
stories written into The World’s tapestry spill out into hu-
man institutions. Most don’t consider superstition irrational
or false, aware that the names of Legends have power in and
of themselves, and that following in the footsteps of one
can link a person to it with coincidences and leanings. The
effects are subtle and unpredictable, but undeniable from a
bird’s-eye view. Two soccer teams named in honor of Gods
who constantly war with one another find themselves vying
for the same position in the rankings through happenstance.
A company facing down bankruptcy rebrands with a re-
spectful nod to Osiris or Xipe Totec to snatch desperately
at a second chance. Nothing is certain, and sometimes that
renewal the CEO was hoping for turns out to be a reorgani-
zation of the board of directors that gets her and the entire
executive team laid off. Then again, sometimes her ship
comes in — which brings with it a host of new complications
bearing vague resemblance to other parts of the myth she
hadn’t counted on.
Fate’s ripples have more subconscious effects on the
ordinary mortal, too, with millennia of Fatebinding shap-
ing The World’s expectations and those of the people in it
like clay. They know that innocuous dreams can still mean
something, deja vu can highlight an insignificant event as im-
portant, and their gut feelings can be right (or wrong) more
often than not. Everyone accepts “tempting fate” and “just
desserts” as real laws of nature that have a decisive impact.
The World doesn’t find it unduly strange when serendipity
and misfortune strike like lightning. Many people are willing
to take a chance on the fortune teller whose phone number
they pulled from a paper tab on a telephone pole, and a good
number of those don’t mind admitting it, either. Lotteries
prompt a quiet competition of arcane rituals between those
who play regularly, as each entrant believes he knows the
combination of prayers and meaningful associations that
garners his best chances of winning. Tourists and groupies
flock to celebrities in hopes of riding their coattails into not
just 15 minutes of fame, but a brighter destiny — not that
the average Jane would put it in those terms. She just has a
feeling of being drawn to certain people or places and then
makes excuses for why.
EVERYDAY SIGNS
Though The World is rife with modern mythology,
everyday mortals take most of it on faith. Only the tip of
the divine iceberg peeks out from behind the curtain, and
its inherent mystery lets it defy easy categorization or in-
dustrialization. The rest explodes into vibrant color in Terra
Incognita, but for the most part those are impossible to reach
for anyone without a Legend of her own. But humanity be-
lieves, and that’s powerful. In lieu of overbearing presence,
the fingers of the Gods reach into The World in a million
little ways.
THE WORLD
Where a young woman might wear a gold cross around
her neck in our world, that same woman in The World might
instead wear a hammer amulet on a leather thong, or a small
raven’s claw. The statue of Christ the Redeemer standing tall
in Rio de Janiero isn’t replaced by Shango on his throne, but
signs of the lightning God of ruling are scattered throughout
the city. OB-GYNs with silk shirts occasionally charge their
patients a premium for the taurobolium, a word most don’t
quite grasp, smuggled as it is within overpriced American
prenatal tests. It’s a fashion among a few soldiers in the
know to carve the Tiwaz rune into their rifles to ensure the
weapons won’t jam on them. Those who listen closely to the
weather report over Caribbean radios hear a drumbeat rem-
iniscent of Shango’s. The sheer variety of homages to the
unseen enriches every aspect of otherwise-humdrum life.
Mortal celebrities court the divine in their quests for
fame and fortune, too, choosing patron deities to solicit for
continued notoriety (and milk for continued press, when
they can). A prime minister taking office includes a prayer to
a local tutelary God as part of the standard spiel. When the
Phillies win The World Series, they take a moment to sing
a hymn to Ogma or Nike before the afterparty. Meanwhile,
the San Francisco Giants have a literal giant as their mascot,
and they only recruit players the titanspawn thinks are wor-
thy — at least, according to the general manager, who de-
murs as to whether it’s merely a very tall man in a taller suit.
The small-print legalese in movie credits includes clauses to
protect the filmmakers not only from copyright infringement
but from offending any aes sídhe whose names or domains
happen to resemble the contents of the film.
27
 FAITH AND THE WORLD, PART ONE
Believe it or not, The World of humanity coexisting alongside wonders and creatures of Legend isn’t
such a grand departure from our world. Folk religion is strong the planet over, and such things exist in the
minds and hearts of people as a matter of faith. The real difference between our world and The World isn’t
in whether or not these things exist, but in how obviously and frequently they push into our lives, and in all
myths being equally true and interacting with each other in unexpected, fascinating ways.
In The World, more people believe in more pantheons with more regularity because the old customs
never went anywhere. Seekers of faith don’t need to reconstruct half-buried traditions; their Gods are still
front and center in their own original religions. From the Gods’ perspective, very little has changed since
their earlier days when they meddled in the affairs of mortals more frequently. Remember, “believe it or
not” — the Gods don’t need belief, even if they do care for it. They are, like a storm or a fire is, and they
neither need nor want your acknowledgment. Well, perhaps they want it a bit...

Explorers with keen eyes and attentive students of
history uncover a diverse plethora of shrines and temples
tucked away in every corner of The World, built over contin-
uous ages of worship that never completely died out. A col-
ony of rune-shaped holes dug into the side of a mountain in
mystical patterns shows where a Scion’s cult once dedicated
the rock face to her burgeoning Legend. Mausolea in Ireland
are designed as tiny replicas of Teach Duinn tower with
ominous landbound lighthouses above deep, stone-lined
pits where layers of soil hide centuries of votive sacrifices.
A series of carved wooden posts that never decay marks
a path that winds through a hidden bog, laid to guide not
people, but spirits, through treacherous lands to the safety
of home. Every city in The World boasts an altar dedicated
to its patron deity. In some cities it’s displayed prominently
at the center of a massive square downtown, while in others
it’s not listed on any map and would-be pilgrims must know
the secret signs (or buy an expensive black-market global
positioning system app) to find it. Hints of forgotten rites
and miracles litter The World, lingering in caves and deserts,
waiting in sunken shipwrecks and rusted armories, buried
beneath graveyards and standing sentinel atop cliffsides.
They may even stand in plain sight — Gods’ faces carved
into the mantels of mansions lining a particular avenue or
prayers etched into the bricks of every third building on a
college campus — and people view them as curiosities that
only push past the periphery of their lives if something draws
special attention to them.
Because religions and folk traditions of The World are
continuous rather than reconstructed from ancient times,
some of what the Gods expect of their worshippers and
Scions is distasteful or even abhorrent to modern mores. The
pantheons view human progress in different terms than the
humans themselves do, in their roles as ageless and distant
watchers. They consider philosophical shifts and the ever-in-
creasing value of lives and freedoms to be novelties, worthy
of observation but rarely of wholesale adoption, particularly
since they go out of their way not to allow Fatebinding to
change them too radically. Where humanity’s standards
clash with Gods’ expectations, Scions are often the ones
leading the charge to outright reject objectionable traditions
from ages past, while the ships of mortal religions tack more
slowly into the winds of change and gradually influence the
Gods’ own opinions on such matters.
RELIGIONS
AND CULTS
T here’s no conspiracy to hide the presence of Gods or the
persistence of “pagan” ways, but pantheons promote a
certain attitude to faith that, in most cases, puts them in the
background of modern society. For centuries, this wasn’t the
case, and Scion-theocrats with shining crowns spoke thunder
and spit lightning at each other over ordinary territory. You know
the examples: dishonored bodies in Troy, 18 apocalyptic days
in Kuru, the red and white dragons that were nations. Not all
Gods meddled so openly, and some abstained from intervention,
reasoning that if the ways they taught were to have any value,
they should stay strong when practiced by mortals alone.
It’s hard to pin down when it changed, and it would be
ethnocentric and deceptive to point to a specific historical
event, but gradually, the Gods abandoned direct rule and
the most public manifestations. Even so, they never left their
people. Many allowed new religions and ideologies to flower
and serve civic society, but bade followers to honor their
original faiths privately, or in cults outside of state control. In
1000 A.D., Iceland’s Althing voted to convert the country
to Christianity, but they honored Odin the very next day,
though they would never again invoke him in matters of
state.
This pattern repeated itself in different times and places
throughout The World. In some cases, the Gods didn’t call
for a change in public religion, but in people’s attitude to
faith, urging them to take responsibility for affairs that had
previously been left to divine intervention.
That’s a general ideal. The specifics get a bit messier.
Truth be told, the leaders of the great monotheistic religions
would rather you didn’t sacrifice doves to Aphrodite after
attending their services, but there’s not much they can do
about it. This is how their faiths have always coexisted with

28 CHAPTER ONE: THE WORLD

the Gods, doctrine be damned. Of course, some people trades, while others serve a minority, but in all cases, band-
have nothing to do with civic religion or politics, and just ing together is usually a professional advantage.
serve the Gods, and others are pure monotheists and even Family Traditions: In new immigrant communities,
atheists. That might seem hard to believe, but power isn’t places with low population densities, and other areas where
necessarily the same as divinity. families are isolated, they tend to develop their own practic-
TYPES OF CULTS es, which they pass on to the next generation. Some family
traditions are quite large, having grown through centuries
Scion uses the term “cult” to denote Scion-focused of descendants, but others are limited to a handful of rela-
religions, not as a pejorative. Cults are no more or less tives. In rare cases, the Gods demand family cults, when one
likely to produce murderous fanatics, bigots, people who lineage or another has sworn service, or is marked by Fate.
distrust science, or xenophobes than mainstream religions. Some family traditions are all descendants of their divine
However, because cults are often private affairs and exist in patrons.
multitudes, cults don’t tend to be “big tent” religions full of
Historians: Some cults exist to follow their patrons as
diverse points of view. If a bunch of people get together to
they would have been worshipped in some classic period:
believe in something harmful, no higher authority will ex-
ancient Mycenae, or eighth-century Denmark. The most
communicate them, save for the Scions they revere. When
extreme groups live as if they were natives of the period
cults turn bad, it’s usually because the patron Scions are
almost all the time (and certain Gods have set aside realms
less than admirable people, or the organization hasn’t had a
to help them do so) but most of them simply wish to revive
divine visit to correct its course in a long time. Then again, a
the “old ways.” Cults have always existed, and change with
few cults have an adversarial relationship with specific Gods
the times, so historic groups attract a minority of followers
or entire pantheons. It’s not common, but it happens.
interested in performing the research.
Then of course, there’s the possibility that the cult
Mystery Societies: Some cults reveal their full theology
serves a Titan. In fact, Titan cults are not necessarily even
and purpose in stages, initiating an adherent into a new rank
malevolent. Some Titans aren’t destructive, and some cults
when she proves herself loyal and spiritually prepared. This
propitiate the Titans they worship. The fact that most Titans
form of organization is popular when worshipping Gods of
don’t care about anyone begging not to be destroyed general-
knowledge, Gods who have bad reputations (for example,
ly doesn’t figure in their cults’ theology. The most dangerous
one Set cult presents itself as a social club for drunken jack-
groups are the ones asking to be spared, or destroyed last,
asses, but it’s really a warrior society) and, of course, Titans,
because this demonstrates members’ ruthlessness, and the
whose followers understand that it takes a long time to con-
Titans themselves are more receptive to that line of belief.
vince followers of their masters’ merits.
After patronage, the most important influence on a
Reliquarians: Reliquarians focus their worship around
cult is its purpose. Some cults care more about what they do
one or more sacred objects: weapons, body parts, items of
than for whom they do it, and this doesn’t necessarily offend
clothing, ritual tools, and more. The central relics need not
the Gods. They’re worshipped all the same, and if the cult’s
possess any supernatural powers, but many of these cults do
purpose is virtuous, it’s worth supporting. With that in mind,
possess powerful Relics, and though they might lend them
consider the following types of cults, and note that this list is
to Scions related to those they worship, they almost always
neither complete nor exact — cults embrace variety.
expect the items back. The lending process and return is a
Covens: Rare and distrusted, covens don’t form to sacred rite, not to be taken trivially.
worship, but to exploit the Gods, usually through some sort
Social Clubs: In a social club, worship is almost sec-
of time-honored transaction, or by using a mythic loophole
ondary. Members gather to do something they enjoy, and
that gives adherents influence over a Scion or pantheon.
dedicate their efforts to the relevant Gods. Some Gods don’t
Some pantheons embrace the idea of bribing the Gods, or
find this especially flattering, but those deeply interested in
holding them to certain oaths, and others are forced to tol-
the activity accept recreation as worship. Some of these cults
erate it. Members are either self-deluded, or know certain
are like guilds, except that social clubs accept casual practi-
secrets that give the cult its advantages.
tioners, where guilds are normally restricted to professionals.
Guilds: Guilds are professional associations that honor
Temples: Temples are named for the dedicated struc-
a specific God or pantheon. Some guilds have long main-
tures they keep, which house their communities of worship.
tained their ancient professions, while others evolved under
A temple cult is closest to one of the monotheistic, public
the influence of technology (from horses and carts to trucks,
faiths in organization and worship, but even the largest will
for instance). A few canny Gods have taken new trades un-
take a small step back from the public spotlight. Small tem-
der their wings, so software developers, jazz musicians, and
ples rent or share spaces, but big ones have built impressive
marketers honor them. Some guilds virtually control their
structures, or restored some of the great sites of antiquity.

RELIGIONS AND CULTS 29

TERRA INCOGNITA
M yths are too grand for our day-to-day World. Where
legends describe nigh-unattainable virtues, suggest
Platonic Forms, or otherwise evoke the transcendental, they
create the Overworld, filled with realms where the Gods who
honor and embody these things reign. Where tales talk of
impurity, dissolution, final catharsis, and death, they conjure
the Underworld, with its gloomy rivers, shades and morbid
divinities. These heights and depths are seductive, and might
draw our attention away from The World of balance, flesh,
ecosystems, and nations, where life is messy, complicated, and
filled with mortal complaints. Yet Gods live in The World, too,
and not just young Scions questing for their heritage. Entire
pantheons either live alongside humankind, or have made
or found mythic folds on Earth, where they reign. Monsters
have secret lairs; giants have homelands. They’re called Terra
Incognita not because they’re truly unknown, but because
they’re connected to the mysteries of legend.
LANDS OF THE WORLD
The World has the oceans, continents, and nations we
know, but under the influence of meddling Gods, magic, and
obscure, supernaturally twisted history, some of the deep
details might be a bit different from what you’re familiar
with. You may not know of certain sovereign states — mere
dots on a map — that go unrecognized by the UN, but are
THE LANDS OF CHAINS
The Titans were imprisoned according to the
myths of each pantheon, more or less. Gods
lie, exaggerate, and omit inconvenient facts.
There may be certain conditions the Titans’
prisons have in common, but there’s no single
prison realm. The Titan ancestors of the Theoi
are mostly imprisoned in the Underworld of
Tartarus, beneath Hades, where their rage
and suffering fuels the torments inflicted
on the Shades of evil mortals. The Tuatha
Dé Danann exiled Fomorians to a hidden
underwater Midrealm. Even one pantheon
may not condemn all their Titans to the same
place, so Prometheus was spared Tartarus, so
that he could be tortured in a Midrealm in the
Caucasus Mountains until Heracles freed him.
The Titans’ prisons all have a few elements
in common. They almost possess powerful,
implacable, and incorruptible guards. Their
gates are rare and secured with sentinels and
safeguards. They don’t connect to Touchstones,
and Axes Mundi can’t reach them. No matter
what form their restraints take, the Titans can’t
break them unless they’ve already loosened
them through their plots, or are aided by
potent divine power.
30 CHAPTER ONE: THE WORLD
well-known to many mystics and Scions. Some rivers take
different courses, or sprout obscure tributaries. Any country
might have whole cities you’ve never heard of, and that’s
before getting into Terra Incognita.
HISTORY, SCIENCE,
AND MYTH
The World has many histories. The World is a synthesis.
The World is many creation myths and epics, collapsed and
smoothed over by processes left for contemplation by the
wisest Gods, or given to them by the Primordials. When
scientists dig, they find flaked stone tools and pre-human
hominid bones. When they study flesh and blood, they find
mitochondria and DNA. The World’s speed of light is a
constant, and its physicists search for ways to unite General
Relativity and Quantum Field Theory.
Yet they know myths have standing. The fact that The
World rests on the Great Turtle is literally true, but you can
only perceive it from a certain point of view. From another
such perspective, some humans are descended from bears.
This is more than a state of mind. From the right point
of view, you can get a glimpse of the shell mighty enough
to hold mountains, or see the fanged skulls of ancestors.
History follows similar patterns. Archeologists find flint
axes and copper helmets from the Achaean period of Greek
history, but not the “anachronistic” tripod prizes and other
elements mentioned by Homer, unless they also fit conven-
tional history.
MYTHIC BLEED
Even though everyone knows myths represent a certain
mode of reality, and they may contradict The World mortals
share in common, neither Gods nor mortals can conclusively
prove that a strict set of laws separate them, or determine
their precise relationship. Philosophers, mystics, priests, and
scientists have expended considerable effort in mapping
the borders, without success. Leaving aside ethnocentric
conceits that one mythic tradition is closer to ultimate truth
than the rest, the two basic positions either declare that
the natural World is the root of mythic reality, or that it’s a
degenerate version of mythic reality. It’s a weird mixture of
many myths, or the sub-creation of some theoretical “mono-
myth” that sets the patterns for all Gods and legends. None
of the arguments or experiments for any of it have proven
convincing enough to create a consensus.
Mythic Bleed injures any attempt to separate myth
and nature. Sometimes, an archeologist in Turkey finds
Achilles’ helmet, and it looks nothing like anything else
they dig up. Manticores stalk western Asia in defiance of
evolution. Mythic Bleed may be partly responsible for Scions
themselves, since most of them come from The World, and
appear to be governed by mere nature until their divine sides
rise. Sometimes Mythic Bleed represents migration from the
Otherworlds or Terra Incognita, but in many cases, it’s al-
ways been around.